At least I make myself laugh...

I was on the bus early this morning and somewhere along 5th Avenue downtown I looked up and saw Mt Hood perfectly silhouetted between two of the 'president' apartment towers.  The sun was coming up behind the mountain and the sky was just starting to glow pink.

I got out my phone to take a quick picture to share with you:

Yeah, that's right.  Pointed the damn thing the wrong way and took a picture of myself and another random bus rider on the Number 8!

Go ahead and laugh!  It's funny!  I was laughing; still am.

Too Early!

Ok, it's too early but who cares?!

I saw a daffodil in my neighborhood this weekend!!!  And, the other day, when I was getting home from work, I was stopped in my tracks by the scent of a flower.  It's not the daphne yet, far too early for that, but a shrub who's name escapes me at the moment.  But, I was walking up the steps to the front door and caught a whiff of it on the breeze and stopped and breathed it in.  Heavenly.

We have tulips and daffodils starting to poke their leaves out, and the neighbor's camellia is loaded with buds, and even though it's still January, here come the spring flowers.

Yay!

Top O' Downtown

Have you been on the #8 bus lately?  Or the Max Green line?  Something is going on at the top of downtown! 

My guess is that it is Portland State getting ever bigger.  There were a few buildings in the block bounded by 5^th, 6^th, Jackson and College.  I say ‘were’ because all that’s left now is the last remaining cute old house.  Everything else has been knocked down and there are large excavations being dug all around.

You know what this means, right?  Yes, the Portland Bartending Academy has been forced to move!  In fact, I believe that I spotted their new facility the other day, but didn’t realize the significance until just this morning.  Unless I’m mistaken, which could certainly happen, those studious future bartenders are no longer in the University district but are now across the freeway in a strip mall.  I think they are now on SW Caruthers, but I will check that out and get back to you with a definite yea or nay.

So, what is PSU building now?  I briefly checked their website and couldn’t find a page with Urban Domination as a header.  They’re up to something, but it might take me awhile to find out just what it is…  in the meantime, I’ll keep my eyes peeled for signs.

NFL Playoffs

SEAHAWKS v SAINTS!


Look for us near the end zone, cuz we are going to the game!!!


Woot Woot!!

Seasonal Affective Disorder

This may seem a little off topic, but not really.  I mean, Portland in winter is DARK!  And, I know that some of you feel the effects as much as I do.  Besides, what's off topic in a blog like this anyway?!  Nothing!

It’s not just the winter blues, it’s the winter blues on steroids.  It’s the winter blues that have been working out and pumping iron and are coming after you.  It’s the winter blues that take no prisoners.

Yes, I suffer from this disorder.  It’s prevalent in the Pacific Northwest and in other places that are either very cloudy or very far north.  Lots of research has been done in places like Norway.  Go figure.

One of the therapies for SAD is the use of light.  There are two main directions you can go with light therapy.  One is the full spectrum light box that you sit in front of for a period of time every morning.  Many people use this while having their morning coffee and reading the paper (or checking their Faceboob page).  The other method is the dawn simulator lamp.  I use both.

My wonderful, sympathetic, loving partner got me both types of lights for Christmas.  What perfect gifts!  We had two Christmas’ this year; the first with my daughter early in the month and then again with T’s family on the actual date.  T gave me the light box on the first occasion and the dawn simulator lamp on the second.

I used the light box for a couple of weeks and while I couldn’t feel a dramatic difference I think it might have helped.  The odds were not in favor of success, though.  My kid had made a short visit and while it is always fantastic to spend time with her, the saying goodbye part leaves me down in the dumps for awhile.  I’m still using the light every morning because… why not?  Anything that will help seems like a good idea.

The dawn simulator lamp is the most wonderful, brilliant, inspired creation in the history of lamps!  In the history of getting up early!  I LOVE IT.  For reals.  I have been using it for two weeks and can give it a solid recommendation.  It has already had a noticeable and positive effect on my mood.  Brilliant!  Pun intended!

Here’s how it works: you set the alarm for the time you want to get up – in my case 4:45 am.  A half hour before that time the lamp turns on and starts gradually getting brighter and brighter.  When it gets to the alarm time, it is at full brightness and it also makes sound.  Mine is set to chirping birds!  You can choose a buzzer or the radio as well, but the birds are charming.  I begin to wake up about 10 or 15 minutes into the cycle but don’t feel pressured to jump out of bed.  By the time the lamp is at full brightness I feel ready to get up, although sometimes I’ll lie there for a few minutes listening to the chirpy birds (who, by the way, get louder and louder).

The only downside to the miraculous lamp is if you have a bedmate who gets up after you and can’t sleep through it.  Fortunately for me, T sleeps through most things and even if the light bothered her she wouldn’t want me to stop using it.  When I get up, I prop up a couple of pillows to shield her face from the light.  The first couple of times I turned the lamp off when I got up, but that just made the darkness feel more oppressive. Now I leave it on while I take my shower and only turn it off after I am dressed and ready to go downstairs.

I have definitely noticed an improvement in my depression and I feel confident in saying that it is a direct result of the dawn simulator lamp.  I should have bought one years ago, but I have one now.  If you suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder, I highly recommend that you get one of these.  Best money spent on mental health ever!

Holiday Greeting Cards

Does anyone send holiday greeting cards anymore?  Also known as Christmas cards?  Do you?

I remember when Lisa lived with us and between her set of friends and acquaintances and mine we had dozens and dozens of cards.  Not a day would go by in December without a card or several in the mailbox.  I have a box of small, gold colored paper clips that I used to string together and pin up along the wainscoting.  We would hang the cards along this shiny garland.  In the heyday of cards we would have the whole living room swagged with holiday greetings.

This year, I have received five so far.  Five.  Sadly, one of them is from the store where I bought my bike!  It's pretty, though, so I'm keeping it up.  There are too few to string up the paperclip chains so they are sharing the mantel with some other decorations.  There's plenty of room for the five of them!  In the old days, only the photo cards were on the mantel.

In case you were going to ask, yes, I did send out cards.  Not as early as Miss Georgiana, whose card arrived the day after Thanksgiving, but early-ish in the month.

Is this just a thing of the past?  Are the days of sending cards made of paper through the postal service over?  If so, that's kinda sad.  It's a holdover from the time before email.  It's hard to display an e-card on the mantel.

Sparkle Plenty

No, I’m not talking about our cat, or the Dick Tracy character, or the chandelier cleaner.  I’m talking about holiday sparkle lights!  Also known as twinkle lights, or fairy lights if you hail from the UK.  Or, I suppose, Christmas lights.

I don’t refer to them as Christmas lights because I keep mine up year round.  I use them in lieu of a porch light.  They are cheerful and colorful and keep the dark at bay in a very pleasant way. 

What is the purpose of lights?  A rhetorical question, yes, but with a point.  The purpose of lights is to dispel the dark.  Why do we put up colorful, sparkly lights in the depths of winter?  To remind ourselves that the light will return and the dark will diminish.  That is the source of many ancient winter traditions that persist to the present day under the guise of religion.

I used to take the lights down at the end of the holiday season, but then I kept stretching the season further and further until it snapped.  I always left them up until the spring equinox.  It just felt sacrilegious and a little like tempting fate to take them down too soon.  And, after a while I thought, well, why am I taking them down at all?  They are pretty and they make me happy, so I’m leaving them up!

Several years ago Lisa’s friend Cindy was visiting.  I think it must have been in February or early March.  We picked her up from the airport in the evening and as we rounded the corner onto our street, she piped up, laughing, and said, “There’s someone who can’t let go of the season!”  We grinned as pulled into the driveway.  She was embarrassed but I reassured her that almost everyone found my attitude about lights irritating.

As December unfurls more lights are coming on all over the neighborhood.  My across the street neighbor put his up on Thanksgiving weekend – yay Mr Denson!  House by house the street grows brighter and more cheerful as the days grow shorter and darker. 

I’ve only got my usual porch lights on so far, but this weekend I’ll get out there and string more up on the house and in the shrubbery.  Bring on the extension cords!

How about you?  Do you have any sparkle lights up?